Grounds Bistro & Café — Restaurant in Virginia

Today, we wanted to try something new in Stafford, and this place seemed promising with a 4.3-star rating. However, our experience did not meet expectations.

Our server was kind and promptly took our drink orders. However, as the restaurant filled up, service slowed down significantly because only two servers were attending all the tables.

My husband ordered the lunch combo with chili and a turkey panini. The chili was cold and contained very few beans. One of my children ordered a hot dog with fries but complained that the fries were too salty. I told him to shake it off since it wasn’t a big deal. My other son ordered chicken tenders with fries and chicken and rice soup, which turned out to be overly salty. I ordered a burger with fries, and while the burger was of good quality, they forgot to remove the onions and pickles as requested—not a major issue.

I asked the server for mayo and a Coke Zero, but she only brought the mayo. I waited a while, but by the time we finished eating, she still had not brought my drink. When she finally returned, I told her I didnt want the soda since I had already finished my meal. I also asked if it was possible to replace the chicken and rice soup due to its excessive saltiness. She initially said no but then went to check with the kitchen. When she returned, she offered to bring another soup. I asked if it was the same kind, and when she said yes, I declined since the issue was the salt. She gave me a look as if nothing else could be done, so we let it go and proceeded to pay.

As we were leaving, four female employees were staring at us unpleasantly, which made us feel unwelcome. When we got home, my husband checked the receipt on the square app since they don’t provide one at the restaurant, and we noticed that they had deducted the soup from our bill. However, our concern was not about the price but rather the poor service and attitude. The restaurant was overcrowded, and the food was both cold and overly salty, making our experience...

Tweaking my review as I was perhaps a little hasty and I really like to see local places succeed. However, here comes the full feedback for the business to do with it what they like.

Service: good, prompt, friendly and our order was spot on.

Atmosphere: cozy place with potential. I didn’t inspect the place from top to bottom but the seats caught my eye and could have used a little cleaning attention (crumbs in the cracks of the seat cushions).

Food: ham, cheese and egg croissant. Egg was cooked perfectly and sandwich tasted good, but the croissant was on the stale side and the buttery flaky goodness of a croissant is the best part.

Sausage gravy was decent, but the biscuits were hard, either stale or over cooked.

The burrito needed some work. Skip the sauce on top and keep it a handheld. The cheese sauce was thin and virtually undetectable. A raw uncooked flour tortilla should never be served. Don’t know if it was stale or just the uncooked part. It was difficult to cut with a fork and knife. Griddle it for a few to give it some good color and texture and now we’re talking. The ingredients on the inside were prepped separately and came across that way as well. When eating I would get a bite of egg, then all bacon etc. Cut the bacon smaller and scramble it together with the eggs, melty cheese on the inside will make it all more harmonious and bring the burrito together. You want to step it up, cut it on the bias to show off the goodness inside.

Unfortunately they weren’t able to hook me in on this visit. Nothing they could have done to “make it right” as the majority of the issues were technique and quality control related. We ate what they intended to put out. With a smaller menu you really got to crank out the best, most cravable versions of what you’re putting out,...

I’ve been here 4 times and each time there was something wrong with my food. From too salty fries, to my burger not being cooked correctly… This last visit is why I do not plan to return.

I came in for a quick bite with my littles. I ordered a Buffalo chicken sandwich with fries for myself, and an order of fries for my toddler. When my order was brought to the table, the Sandwich was so poorly put together. There was Buffalo sauce on my daughter’s order of fries, and my fries were drenched in the sauce. Also the cheese was wrapped around the bun (I wish I’d taken a photo of just how bad this San which looked). Everything was so messy, even the server noticed. I asked the waiter to send it back to the kitchen, and he did. Not sure what all was said, but a few moments later our server returned with the same plate and said “we can clean this up without remaking the sandwich”. I then said “okay, please remake he sandwich and I’ll take my order to go”.

A long while later (at least 15-20 mins) my to-go plate was brought to me. To my dismay when I opened the container… I could see it was the SAME SANDWICH AND FRIES. (I only noticed because of how the cheese that was wrapped around the Sandwich was now tucked under the bottom smh). I left the Bistro because I had my littles with me, and still tried to enjoy what I could of my order at home. Unfortunately the chicken was rough like over cooked steak (couldn’t even bite into it let along chew) and the fries so drenched in sauce and salt there was no way to enjoy them. I threw it away. Such a waste. The seating is nice but the food is not worth it.

Also, one suggestion is to lighten up on the salt on the regular shoe...